Conventionally, a safe driving support apparatus is known for providing a control of a vehicle in order to avoid an unsafe condition of the vehicle (designated as avoidance control hereinafter) based on information about a physical environment surrounding the vehicle and a content of a driving operation by a driver of the vehicle (refer to Japanese patent document JP-A-2002-163789).
In addition, as disclosed in Japanese patent document JP-A-2002-230696, a technique for calculating a reward point for the driver of the vehicle based on an evaluation of a degree of safety of the driving operation by utilizing a driving condition history that includes vehicle speed, vehicle start/stop, acceleration/deceleration, and a yaw rate is used for popularizing the safe driving support apparatus and for encouraging a use of the apparatus.
However, according to an inventor's consideration, simply popularizing the safe driving support apparatus and improving its utilization rate does not necessarily contribute to driving safety. That is, for example, when the driver overestimates the ability of the safe driving support apparatus disposed on the vehicle, safety consideration and/or attentiveness by the driver him/herself may possibly be expelled from his/her mind.